My words came across as this was somehow a woman’s fault. This is not my intent. It is not what I was trying to say. Yet, the failure to truly articulate something different lies squarely on my shoulders. To say what I actually said was foolish was an understatement, to say I was wrong was obvious, to apologize, to say ‘I’m sorry,’ doesn’t do the matter justice to be quite honest, but I do sincerely apologize,” Smith said.

“As a man raised by the greatest mothers in the world, and four older sisters, I’ve religiously spoken out against domestic violence all of my life. … I’ve experienced and dealt with the matter within my own family. Unfortunately, I did an incredibly poor job of asserting my own view on Friday, particularly to victims of domestic abuse and female members of my own family that I’ve disappointed. I know better, you all deserved a better professional – and quite frankly a better man — on this very stage last Friday.”

He says that he didn't articulate what he was trying to say properly. Huh? Then what was his point? How can he justify his original argument that women should behave better if they don't want their lights punched out, which was offensive and sophomoric.

This morning's Very Special Edition of First Take began with a scripted and seemingly pre-recorded apology from panelist Stephen A. Smith regarding the very dumb things he said about domestic violence last week. It was ... unconvincing.

The crux of Smith's apology is that he simply failed to properly communicate his stance on domestic violence during last Friday's show. Smith claims that he never meant to insinuate that women can provoke their own beatings at the hands of men, and that he has "religiously spoken out against domestic violence" throughout his life. "I've done so repeatedly over 20 years in this business, as well as over these very airwaves, right here on First Take," he assured us. That's a curious claim for Smith to make, seeing as how his previous discussions of domestic violence on First Take were not at all out of step with his comments from Friday.

Comments

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service (revised 3/17/2016) for information on our posting policy.